We invite all primary school children from tropical and sub-tropical nations, and whose schools are located near mangroves, to create art telling us "why mangroves are important to me and my community". Selected winners will be published in a 2014 calendar to be distributed internationally to raise awareness of mangrove forest ecology. Emailmonicagquarto@olympus.net or mangroveap@olympus.net or READ MORE

MANGROVE ISSUES

Mangrove Restoration in Asia – Watch Short VideoREAD A MOSAIC OF LIFE” Peek into the underwater world of mangroves, "womb of the sea." By Liz Cunningham Photos By Wes Matweyew and Liz Cunningham

MANGROVE BOOK – J. Primavera
The book Beach Forests and Mangrove Associates in the Philippines by J.H. Pimavera and R.B. Sadaba (ISBN 978-971-9931-01-0; National Library CIP QK938.C6 581.75109599 2012 P220120602) is now available. aves, flowers, fruits, utilization and silviculture.SEE POSTER and order instructions

Note to Our Readers:We strive to keep active links in our newsletter. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, occasionally links to stories may become broken. If you find a link to a story is not functioning, please cut and paste the headline into your browser search bar. In most cases you should be able to locate the original story.

MAP’s Asia Coordinator Assists Training Workshop
THAILAND - The China Mangrove Conservation Network (CMCN) invited myself as MAP’s Asia Coordinator to assist with a three day training workshop (April 22-24, 2013) with the objective to help build capacity of the Chinese mangrove reserve staff and rangers. The workshop was sponsored by College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiaman University with funding support from the SEE Fund, a Chinese entrepreneur Corporate Social Responsibility foundation. I was given the entire afternoon of the first day to present on mangrove conservation with a special focus on community development and engagement. To-date Chinese mangrove reserve management has played little attention in working in the surrounding communities to build their mangrove awareness and help them see the mangrove nature reserves in a more positive light, rather than just the strict enforcers of regulations which impacts their livelihoods. READ MORE

AFRICA

Plastic Waste Destroys Mangroves of the Wouri Estuary
CAMEROON - Waste from “Bois des Singes” and Bonendale neighborhoods is being dumped in the mangroves forest, South of Douala and according to Sidi Bare, the Littoral Regional Delegate of Environment, these waste destroy the mangrove ecosystem. Waste of industrial nature is also dumped into these areas, Sidi Bare told the Cameroon Tribune. Besides dumping waste under the mangrove bushes, trees are also cut down for fuel, confirms Oumarou Garba, a resident in the area. Waste dumped is composed of plastics and textile fabrics from households and industries, and experts say about 2000 metric tons of waste are produced daily in Douala. HYSACAM, a waste collecting company, says that 1,350 tons of waste are disposed properly while 400 to 600 tons cannot be collected due to its inaccessibility. Run off washes uncollected and improperly are dumping waste into the Wouri Estuary and a study by the Cameroon Mangrove Conservation Network suggests that waste are blocking the free flow of water and air hence killing plant life. VIEW SOURCE

Mangroves under threat as Cameroonians move toward coast
CAMEROON - Mangroves that could protect Cameroon from rising seas may be subject to more pressure than they can bear, as people migrating to the country’s southwestern coast clear trees at a rate so fast they can’t regenerate, scientists at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) said. As the world grapples with the effects of climate change, it cannot afford to ignore these unique, watery worlds, said Bele Mekou Youssoufa, co-author of Vulnerability to coastal flooding and response strategies: the case of Cameroon mangrove forests. “Even if we negate all benefits of mangroves as forests, their value as the ‘shore-line protector’ should be enough to convince us to conserve them,” he said, noting the trees’ roots spread across a large area, soaking up water and encouraging sedimentation. That not only helps stabilise tidal and freshwater inputs, according to recent CIFOR research, but helps prevent soil erosion. READ MORE

Lobby to Plant Trees
KENYA - Green Towns Movement, Kenya Forest Research Institute and Kenya Forest Service will this weekend plant 500 mangrove trees along Sabaki River. Speaking to the Star in his office, Green Towns Partnership Association national chairman Godfrey Karume said the conservation exercise will reclaim land from the sea to curb soil erosion and bar floods. "River Sabaki has taken up land around it. This has led to mass soil erosion and floods which has affected Malindi and Magarini residents," Karume said. He said mangrove trees have the ability to hold water. "Mangroves play an important role in controlling erosion and providing a protective shield from severe floods. We are optimistic that this is a long term preventive measure against floods," Karume said. He said mangroves will not be the only solution. "We urge the government to build dams on the river," Karume said. VIEW SOURCE

ASIA

A green tsunami recovery in Indonesia
INDONESIA – Volunteers are helping the Pangandaran region back on its feet after a tsunami battered the region. They’re reforesting mangrove forests, building coral reefs and spreading climate awareness. In 2006, a tsunami devastated Pangandaran, a pristine ocean-side resort and popular tourist destination. Today, hotels are back up and running and the tourists are back in force, but the local environment has been slower to recover. With support from the International Climate Initiative and the United Nations' World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Indonesian NGO Indecon is now leading an effort to reforest Pangandaran’s mangrove woods and replenish its coral reefs. Sustainability is the key. That’s because nearly everyone in Pangandaran relies on tourism for a living - from hotels and restaurants to small farmers and fishers. And all of them need an intact and healthy environment to flourish. READ MORE

Top shrimp exporter to delist
VIETNAM - Shrimp processor and exporter Minh Phu (MPC), Viet Nam's biggest shrimp company, plans to delist its shares in order to charge higher prices for them. "Listing is meant to raise funds, but for us it's like being caged," Minh Phu chairman Le Van Quang told the Saigon Economic Times. The shrimp industry's troubles began in 2011, when the shrimp price increased constantly. In early 2012, when disease destroyed shrimp in Viet Nam and Indonesia, importers thought the price would not decline any further so they made purchasing contracts for the whole year in advance. However, in June, as the European debt crisis hit, Europe bought less shrimp and the price again decreased. Meanwhile, exporters from India and Bangladesh reduced their prices thanks to abundant supply. Indian shrimp prices fell rapidly from US$14.5 for a pound of shrimp to $6.7. "Big partners did not offer letters of credit, while some importers declared bankruptcy so they would not have to implement the signed contracts," Quang said. READ MORE

AMERICAS

Tom Goreau on Bakers Bay Coral Reef Decline
BAHAMAS - Acclaimed coral scientist Tom Goreau spoke about coral reef decline at Baker's Bay Club in Great Guana Cay, Bahamas as a result of excessive fertilizer run-off. The speech, presented at the Bahamas National Natural History Conference in Nassau on March 7, was well received by the audience and is the first public presentation of data from the Baker's Bay coral reef controversy. The speech, billed as "Golf Course Fertilizer Runoff Causes Nutrient Enrichment Leading to Harmful Algae Blooms on a Bahamian Coral Reef", was co-written by Tom Goreau of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, James Cervino of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Troy Albury, President of Save Guana Cay Reef. READ MORE

Casino ship to Bimini to double island’s population
BIMINI - A new cruise ship (complete with casino, shopping, restaurants, disco, swimming pool) may soon be coming to Bimini. Genting (USA) Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Genting Malaysia has purchased the 32,728 gross tons SUPERFAST VI, to transport guests from Florida to their new casino at north Bimini. The ship is capable of carrying 1,600 passengers, with berths for 934 overnight passengers. It is 669 feet long/beam 82 feet; operating at a high speed of around 28 knots in calm seas; it will complete the 48 nautical-miles from the Florida coast in around 2 1/2 hours. This news has not been received warmly by many Biminites, and long term (3rd generation) second home-owners—who fear an over-run of visitors will drain the tiny island of already meager sources such as power, plumbing, and fearsome traffic on only two, small lanes serving as ‘highways.’ If this boat arrived in Bimini, full of passengers it would essentially DOUBLE, the population on the island. READ MORE

Although the following story is from 2008, it helps highlight the issues still occurring on the island of Bimini in the Caribbean. We run it again in order to remind readers of importance of this issue.Bimini - Paradise in Peril
BIMINI - Fabien Cousteau and the Ocean Futures Society present "Paradise in Peril," a stunning documentary about unsustainable development on the tiny islands of Bimini, Bahamas. The Save Bimini Association is made up of a collection of individuals, businesses & organizations dedicated to a sustainable future for the islands of Bimini. Started as a small local group of Biminites, Save Bimini has grown into an international coalition. The Save Bimini Association is not against development interests on Bimini, but rather seeks to ensure that all developments respect the history, culture & ecology of this precious island chain. “We recognize that people from around the world come to Bimini for what it is, not for what developers wish it would be”. VIEW VIDEO

Shrimp farmers hope to create a niche for domestic product
USA - Like many types of partnerships these days, the people behind a shrimp farm that is the first of its kind in New England found each other online. James Tran, founder and CEO of Sky 8 Shrimp Farm, investigated starting his own indoor shrimp farm by visiting operations in Indiana and Nevada and trying out small-scale experiments in his spare time. It was a career shift from the semiconductor business and his electrical engineering background, but made some sense given his family history of harvesting wild and farmed shrimp in Vietnam. “Even though I came here when I was young, basically my whole family are fishermen,” he says. He decided to pursue the project in earnest. After getting nowhere with Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, he was told by a state regulator he needed to find a seafood expert. He found 40-year seafood industry veteran Peter Howard in an online search and gave him a call. “He called me and said, ‘Do you want to start a shrimp farm? I said, ‘When do you want to start?’ He said, ‘Next month,’” remembers Howard. READ MORE

Habitat Restoration Yields Long-term Benefits to Fisheries
USA - Restoring and expanding coastal and estuarine habitat leads to increases in fish populations, which have a positive impact on the communities and the industries that depend on thriving and sustainable fisheries. A report released today by Restore America's Estuaries (RAE) and the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and co-authored with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - More Habitat Means More Fish - makes a powerful case that investing in our nation's coastlines and estuaries leads to healthy habitat and strong fisheries, which has a positive impact on the businesses and industries, both recreational and commercial, that need healthy fisheries to survive and thrive. READ MORE

EUROPE

Editor's Note: Though World Migratory Bird Day has passed on May 11th, it is still vitally important we relate the loss of mangroves to the threats of extinction posed by this loss to migratory water birds. One area of great concern in losing mangrove wetlands and their associated ecosystems is the continuing loss and degradation of the migratory waterbirds flyways and resting stops. Thus when shrimp farms or other developments encroach upon mudflats and mangroves to site their developments, migratory water birds lose that important edge for survival that these most vulnerable intertidal zones provide.

"Very often migrant birds are under huge pressure at the exact points where they are most vulnerable. Birds battling to reach the sea-shore descend into a limitless line of nets. Tiny falcons funnel through forests to be trapped in their thousands. Exhausted shorebirds find that the mudflats where they once refueled are now a sea of concrete, or circle wearily because their roosting sites have vanished" - Dr. Marco Lambertini, Chief Executive, BirdLife International.

"What does concern them (the waterbirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway) is that the network of sites they have traditionally depended on for safety, food, breeding and moulting is changing rapidly and usually for the worse. Areas of inter-tidal coastal flats of East Asia have undergone a steep and continuing decline in recent decades, threatening the migration routes of migratory shorebirds" - Spike Millington, Chief Executive of East Asian ? Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) Secretariat.Loss and Degradation of Natural Habitats Threaten Migratory Birds
GERMANY - The annual migration of an estimated 50 billion birds - around 19 per cent of the world's 10,000 bird species - is one of the world's great natural wonders, yet the critical staging areas migratory birds need to complete these journeys are being degraded or are disappearing completely. These increasingly vulnerable sites, which act as stepping stones on migration routes, serve as a place for the birds to rest, feed and breed during their annual migration cycles. As a result of the degradation, some species may be extinct within a decade, while others are facing population losses of up to nine per cent each year. Celebrated in over 65 countries on 11-12 May, World Migratory Bird Day 2013 will highlight the importance of ecological networks for the survival of migratory birds, the important human networks dedicated to their conservation, the threats migratory birds face, and the need for more international cooperation to conserve them. READ MORE

Mangroves and pollinating bats?
U.K. - Megachiroptera comprising flying foxes or fruit bats are animals of extraordinary ecological and economic importance throughout forests of the Old World tropics. Nearly 200 species play an essential role as mangrove pollinators and seed dispersers, yet they are frequently misunderstood intensely persecuted and exceptionally vulnerable to extinction Their role in the propagation of numerous important mangrove plants remains virtually uninvestigated. However, my review of already available literature demonstrates that at least half of the total mangrove plant species (there are roughly 58 species of mangrove trees and plants that are identified and named so far) rely to varying degrees on large populations of flying foxes for propagation. These plants, in addition to their many ecological contributing produce some 448 economically valuable products. The fact that flying foxes are increasingly threatened and that few baseline data exist on population trends is cause for concern. READ MORE

Mangrove Restoration Should Involve More Biodiversity Much Less Monoculture:
U.K. - Interest in mangroves has grown considerably since the Asian tsunami, but for reasons other than biodiversity (e.g. green-belt protection, fisheries productivity, sustainable development of local people, ('blue') carbon storage, as a casualty of large-scale aquaculture development and so on.) A key problem for mangrove biodiveristy stems from the methods and beliefs around restoration after clearance for charcoal, aquaculture or over-exploitation. Mangrove forests vary in their macro-flora biodiversity, from three or four tree and shrub species in the US to 60-80 species around Indonesia. After restoration efforts what replaces the forests, if successful, is often from only the Rhizophora genus. This is due to the fact thatRhizophora propagules are easy to handle, Rhizophora is sometimes believed to be 'the best' mangrove species and that it has a fairly wide range of tolerances to inundation regimes, and bio-chemo-physical gradients. Therefore many of the restoration efforts resemble mono-specific plantations, with Rhizophora planted in straight lines. Plantation-style restoration is unsurprising as many states’ mangroves are the responsibility of the forestry department. And as a result of imitation and perhaps government training, local people’s restoration is similar. READ MORE

LAST WORD

USAID pushes for privatization of Central American seas
HONDURAS - In the mid-twentieth century, it was believed that the marine biota was inexhaustible. In recent years, it was shown that the water resource is finite and large areas of "fishing grounds" are fully exploited, overexploited or depleted to the estimated degree of over 400 "dead seas", particularly in the Baltic Sea and both coasts of the U.S.. Some of the proposed “solutions” to recover marine resources would allow the Northern Hemisphere industrial fleets to invade their areas for fishing, while simultaneously sending large fishing fleets and more technology to the "Southern Cone", where through direct agreements with rulers, signing free trade agreements, practice in essence illegal, unreported and unregulated acts of piracy in exploitation of fish stocks. The "Tragedy of the Commons" (Hardin, 1968) is evident when transnational companies gain access to fishing underexploited seas and introduce more ships and technology to deplete the resource. Some suggest that small-scale fishermen are guilty of this "tragedy," but this kind of reasoning is merely preparing the ground to strip them of their way of life. READ MORE

~ WE WELOCME YOUR LETTERS - If you’d like to have the last word on this or any other mangrove related topic, please send us your submission for upcoming newsletters. We’ll choose one per issue to have “the last word”. While we can’t promise to publish everyone’s letter, we do encourage anyone to post comments on our Blog at www. mangroveactionproject.blogspot.com

Please cut and paste these news alerts/ action alerts on to your own lists and contacts. Help us spread the word and further generate letters of concern, as this can make a big difference in helping to halt a wrongdoing or encourage correct action.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Interest
in mangroves has grown considerably since the Asian tsunami, but for
reasons other than biodiversity (e.g. green-belt protection, fisheries
productivity, sustainable development of local people, ('blue') carbon
storage, as a casualty of large-scale aquaculture development and so
on.)

A
key problem for mangrove biodiveristy stems from the methods and
beliefs around restoration after clearance for charcoal, aquaculture or
over-exploitation. Mangrove forests vary in their macro-flora
biodiversity, from three or four tree and shrub species in the US to
60-80 species around Indonesia. After restoration efforts what replaces
the forests, if successful, is often from only the Rhizophora genus. This is due to the fact thatRhizophora propagules are easy to handle, Rhizophora is
sometimes believed to be 'the best' mangrove species and that it has a
fairly wide range of tolerances to inundation regimes, and
bio-chemo-physical gradients. Therefore many of the restoration
efforts resemble mono-specific plantations, with Rhizophora planted
in straight lines. Plantation-style restoration is unsurprising as many
states’ mangroves are the responsibility of the forestry department.
And as a result of imitation and perhaps government training, local
people’s restoration is similar.

For
a review of the issues, see Lewis (2013). For a description of a more
appropriate method of ecological mangrove restoration, whereby amended
and corrected hydrology encourages natural
regeneration and therefore greater biodiversity, see Field (1996) and
Lewis (2005).

Evidence
about whether other mangrove species colonise mono-specific plantations
is mixed. Walters’s (2000) detailed survey of various Filipino
plantations revealed that there was very little natural recruitment of
other species in mangrove plantation areas, even after taking into
account the ‘weeding’ done by local people (supported by Sudtongkong and
Webb 2008, Enright, 2012 per. comm.). The process of establishing a
plantation sometimes
involves the removal of other species nearby to allow space for the
plantation, simplifying local biodiversity further (Enright 2012, per.
comm., per. ob.). The lack of propagule recruitment might be due to
several reasons: the very dense prop roots characteristic of Rhizophora planted
at high density, blocking the movement of other propagules into the
site; prop root-induced soil accretion making the substrate high
relative to sea-level, unsuitable for pioneer species to colonise;
exuded phenolic compounds from mangrove tree roots might suppress other
species (Alongi 2002); propagule predation (Bosire et al. 2006) and the
gaps in the plantation formed by limited harvesting being too small and
open for too short a time (gap-mediated colonisation, see Clarke and Kerrigan, 2000). Walters (2000) found no correlation between stand age and species richness and thus
concluded that if biodiversity is an objective, it has to be designed in at planting.

In
contrast, Bosire et al. (2003) and Kairo et al. (2008) found that even
mono-specific reforestation facilitated natural recruitment of
propagules and seeds (supported by Ellison 2000), by reducing wave
energy and trapping propagules. Saenger (2002) also mentions the
biochemical improvements live mangrove roots make to the soil by exuding
oxygen and carbohydrate, making colonisation more likely.

Mangrove forests are comprised of unique plant species that
form the critical interface between terrestrial, estuarine, and near-shore
marine ecosystems in tropical and subtropical regions. The term mangrove is
generally used to describe the assemblage of trees and shrubs that grow in
saline coastal habitats, normally found in the tropics and sub-tropics.
Mangrove plants are not land builders but once established, play a key role in
stabilization of newly accreted sediment. Mangrove tree species have developed
a wide range of features, including specialized stomatal, leaf, seed,
and root structures, as adaptations for living in a saline environment with high
incidence of inundation. Most mangrove species are viviparous; seeds
germinate while still attached to the tree. Buoyant seeds develop into mature propagules,
which then drop and disperse by water. Of note is the diversity in root
structures of the mangrove tree species, designed to facilitate anchorage,
nutrient uptake, and gaseous exchange. Some species, such as Heritiera fomes,
Sonneratia apetala, and Avicennia officinalis, have pneumataphores;
upward projecting root branches that enable the gaseous exchange required for
respiratory metabolism. Other species, such as Rhizophora mucronata,
have “stilt” or “knee” roots for gaseous exchange, while additional features
such as the “tap” roots (buttresses) of Heritiera fomes and the
horizontal spread of roots in general, add to overall stability. Some plants
also excrete excess salt through leaves.

Why Care about Mangroves?

The importance of mangroves for humans and a variety of
coastal organisms has been well documented. They protect inland human communities
from damage caused by coastal erosion and storms, provide critical habitat for
a variety of terrestrial, estuarine and marine species, and serve as both a source
and sink for nutrients and sediments for other inshore marine habitats
including seagrass beds and coral reefs. Mangrove species that form
dense and often monospecific stands are considered “foundation
species” that control population and ecosystem dynamics, including fluxes
of energy and nutrients, hydrology, food webs, and biodiversity. Mangroves have
been widely reviewed as supporting numerous ecosystem services including flood
protection, nutrient and organic matter processing, sediment control, and
fisheries. Mangrove forests are the economic foundations of many tropical
coastal regions providing at least US$1.6 billion per year in “ecosystem
services” worldwide. It is estimated that almost 80% of global fish catches
are directly or indirectly dependent on mangroves. Mangroves sequester up to
25.5 million tonnes of carbon per year (where
is this statistic from?) and provide more than 10% of essential organic
carbon to the global oceans. Although the economic value of mangroves can be
difficult to quantify, the relatively small number of mangrove species
worldwide collectively provide a wealth of services and goods while occupying
only 0.12% of the world's total land area. Mangrove ecosystems are the mostbiologically productive
ecosystem on earth. They are the keystone habitats by the sea and ecologically
most diverse across the tropical belt. Briefly speaking mangroves provide six essential ecological
services: (1) land maturation, (2) protection of human habitation from
cyclones, (3) oxygen production, (4) waste recycling, (5) food supply, and (6)
carbon cycling.

What is Happening to Mangrove Ecosystems:

Despite its enormous biodiversity significance, mangroves
are the most vulnerable to anthropogenic persecution due to varying degree of
misconception surrounding its values to human and other animals in tropical ecoregions.
With almost half (44%) of the world's population living within 150 km of a
coastline, heavily populated coastal zones have spurred the widespread clearing
of mangroves for coastal development, aquaculture, or resource use. At least
40% of the animal species that are restricted to mangrove habitat and have
previously been assessed under IUCN Categories and Criteria are at elevated
risk of extinction due to extensive habitat loss. It is estimated that 26% of
mangrove forests worldwide are degraded due to over-exploitation for fuelwood
and timber production. Similarly, clearing of mangroves for shrimp culture
contributes ~38% of global mangrove loss, with other aquaculture accounting for
another 14%. In India alone, over 40% of mangrove area on the western coast has
been converted to agriculture and urban development. However the overlapping of
marine and terrestrial resources in mangroves creates tenure ambiguities that
complicate management and may induce conflict between competing interests.
Globally, between 20% and 35% of mangrove area has been lost since
approximately 1980, and mangrove areas are disappearing at the rate of
approximately 1% per year with other estimates as high as 2–8% per year. These
rates may be as high as or higher than rates of losses of upland tropical wet
forests and current exploitation rates are expected to continue unless mangrove
forests are protected as a valuable resource. Given
their accelerating rate of loss, mangrove forests may at least functionally
disappear in as little as 100 years. The loss of individual mangrove species is
also of great concern, especially as even pristine mangrove areas are
species-poor compared with other tropical plant ecosystems. However, there is
very little known about the effects of either widespread or localized mangrove
area loss on individual mangrove species or populations. Additionally, the
identification and implementation of conservation priorities for mangroves has
largely been conducted in the absence of comprehensive species-specific
information, as species-specific data have not been collated or synthesized.
Species information including the presence of threatened species is important
for refining conservation priorities, such as the designation of critical
habitat, no-take zones, or marine protected areas, or to inform policies that
regulate resource extraction or coastal development. Below we have provided
graphical images of native distributions of mangrove species' richness and
proportion of IUCN Red List of Threatened (Critically Endangered, Endangered,
and Vulnerable) mangrove species respectively.

The Cost of Mangrove Species Loss:

The loss of individual mangroves species and associated
ecosystem services has direct economic consequences for human livelihoods,
especially in regions with low mangrove species diversity and low ecosystem
resilience to species loss. In the Gulf of California, for example, where there
are only 4 mangrove species present (Avicennia germinans, Rhizophora samoensis, Laguncularia racemosa, Conocarpus erectus), it is estimated that one linear
kilometer of the species R.
samoensis, listed as Near Threatened, provides up to 1 ha of
essential marine habitat and provides a median annual value of US$37,000 in the
fish and blue crab fisheries. Nutrients
and carbon from mangrove forests provide essential support to other near shore
marine ecosystems such as coral reefs and seagrass areas, and enrich
coastal food webs and fishery production. Avicennia species are dominant in inland or basin
mangrove forests in many parts of the world. However, 3 of 8 (38%) species in
this genus are in threatened or Near Threatened categories. Loss of these
species and the mangrove forests they dominate will have far reaching
consequences for water quality and other near shore ecosystems in coastal
communities around the globe. For example, water purification services provided
by these mangrove species in the Muthurajawela Marsh, Sri Lanka are valued at
more than $US 1.8 million per year. Riverine
or freshwater-preferring species, such as the Endangered Heritiera fomes and Heritiera globosa,
buffer coastal rivers and freshwater communities from sedimentation, erosion
and excess nutrients. Heritiera
globosa is a very rare species confined to western Borneo, while Heritiera fomes is more
widespread in south Asia, but has experienced significant declines in many
parts of its range. Localized or regional loss of these coastal or fringe
mangrove species reduces protection for coastal areas from storms, erosion,
tidal waves, and floods with the level of protection also dependent on the
quality of remaining habitat. Two of 4 (50%) fringe mangrove species present in
Southeastern Asia (Sonneratia
griffithii, Aegiceras
floridum) are listed in threatened or Near Threatened categories.
In other areas, such as Brazil, the central Pacific islands, or West Africa,
fringe mangrove forests are often comprised of only one or two species. Even
though these species are globally listed as Least Concern, local and regional
loss of mangroves in these areas will have devastating impacts for coastal
communities. The loss of species may indeed be of greatest economic concern in
rural, high-poverty areas where subsistence communities rely on mangrove areas
for fishing and for direct harvesting of mangroves for fuel, construction or
other economic products. Finally it is
important to note that the amount of mangrove area in some countries is
increasing due to reforestation and restoration efforts. Although regeneration
of degraded mangrove areas is thought to be a viable option in some areas,
successful regeneration is generally only achieved by the planting of monocultures
of fast-growing species, such as Rhizophora
or Avicenna species. Many rare and slow growing species are not
replaced and many species cannot be easily replanted with success. In sum,
mangrove areas may be able to be rehabilitated in some regions, but species and
ecosystems cannot be effectively restored.

What is Megachiroptera?

Megachiroptera is one of the two suborders of mammalian
order Chiroptera that is bats. Of the rich diversity of vertebrate
fauna, bats are unique in being the only group of mammals that, like birds,
have sustained flight. One of the 26 mammalian orders, the Chiroptera includes
1117 species of

bats world over in rather two unequal suborders - the Megachiroptera
(consisting 186 species of Old

World fruit bats or flying fox in one family) and the Microchiroptera
(consisting 931 species in 17 families). Megachiroptera also
colloquially known as Megabats of the order Chiroptera comprises
fruit bats also known as flying foxes. The Megabat, contrary to its
name, is not always large: the smallest species is 6cm long and thus smaller
than some microchiroptera or microbats.The largest reach 40cm in length and attain a wingspan of 1.7m, weighing
in at up to 1.6kg. Most fruit bats have large eyes allowing them to orient
themselves visually in twilight and inside caves and forests. Their sense of
smell is excellent. In contrast to the microbats, the fruit bats do not
use echolocation apart from one or two species. Megachiroptera are frugivorous or
nectarivorous i.e., they eat fruits or lick nectar from flowers. Often the
fruits are crushed and only the juices consumed. The teeth are adapted to bite
through hard fruit skins like mangrove fruits. Large fruit bats must land to
eat fruit, while the smaller species are able to hover with flapping wings in
front of a flower or fruit. Frugivorous bats aid the distribution of plants
(and therefore, forests) by carrying the fruits with them and spitting the
seeds or eliminating them elsewhere. Nectarivores actually pollinate
visited plants. They bear long tongues that are inserted deep into the flower;
pollen passed to the bat is then transported to the next blossom visited,
thereby pollinating it. This relationship between plants and bats is a form of mutualism
known as chiropterophily.

Megachiroptera as Mangrove Pollinator

Megachiroptera comprising flying foxes or fruit bats are
animals of extraordinary ecological and economic importance throughout forests
of the Old World tropics. Nearly 200 species play an essential role as mangrove
pollinators and seed dispersers, yet they are frequently misunderstood
intensely persecuted and exceptionally vulnerable to extinction Their role in
the propagation of numerous important mangrove plants remains virtually
uninvestigated. However, my review of already available literature demonstrates
that at least half of the total mangrove plant species (there are roughly 58
species of mangrove trees and plants that are identified and named so far) rely
to varying degrees on large populations of flying foxes for propagation. These
plants, in addition to their many ecological contributing produce some 448
economically valuable products. The fact that flying foxes are increasingly threatened and that
few baseline data exist on population trends is cause for concern. Many appear
to be in severe decline, and several species are already extinct. Old World phytophagous
bats (Megachiroptera: Pteropodidae) number 186 species of which 79% are
Asian and 21% African. Early bats were perhaps initially attracted to mangrove
flowers and fruit by the insects found around them, later finding the plants
themselves nutritious. Species of Megachiroptera today feed upon floral
resources, fruit and leaves from a total of at least 188 plant genera in 64
families. They may effect both pollination and seed-dispersal, and both bat-flower
and bat-fruit syndromes are commonly recognized. Individual species are
generally catholic in their feeding, favored food varying with locality and
season. Depending upon roosting habits and season, megabats may travel
considerable distances each night to feed and may undertake seasonal migrations.
Their feeding in essentially valuable mangrove species is now seriously
threatened by habitat destruction for shrimp aquaculture farming in many South
and South East Asian countries. The single Megachiropteran family, the
Pteropodidae, ranges from Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, Madagascar and the
Indian Ocean islands in the west, across mainland southern Asia, throughout the
islands of the western Pacific from the Ryukyu Archipelago and Ogasawara-shato
in the north, to coastal eastern Australia, New Caledonia and the Loyalty
Islands in the south, and east to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the

Cook Islands. There are over 42 genera containing of over
186 species in Megachiroptera. The largest and best known genus, Pteropus,
with 57 species, is primarily an island taxon, with 55 species (96.5%) having
some or all of their distribution on islands that mainly mangrove dominated
coastal islands. In this genus levels of endemism are extremely high, with 35
species (61.4%) confined to single islands or small island groups. Only nine
species are found in continental areas (five in Asia and four in Australia),
and only

two (P. lylei and P. poliocephalus) are restricted to
continents. Below are two images, one shows the Megachiroptera
distribution and other one shows mangrove distribution. Combined two images
together, one can appreciate how closely the Megachiroptera habitats are
closely fall into mangrove habitats across the globe.

There are over 50 true mangrove species with over 100
associated species so far documented and named. The most richest diversity of
mangroves is in Indo West Pacific biogeograpic realm (see
image below) where species diversity is as high as 40. Notably
Indo-Malayan islands pose the highest mangrove diversity where endemism if
islandic Megachiroptera is high and a key contributor of the mangrove
pollination. Despite the lack of ecological research linking the significant
correlation of mangrove pollination by the species of fruit bats or flying
foxes of the Megachiroptera guild, it is evident that mangrove and fruit bats
developed an interesting symbiotic relationship that posses far reaching
conservation implications for both the mangroves and the flying foxes. Below is
a graphical demonstration of the proportional
distribution of the mangrove species in each genus and its pollinating share by
Megachiroptera of fruit bats.

Mangrove habitat loss has been cited by a number of authors
as a major factor contributing to declines in fruit bat populations. Although
information on habitat requirements is limited for some species, it is evident
that there is considerable ecological variation within the family.
Deforestation, widespread in almost all tropical mangroves of the world, has
had several identifiable consequences for fruit bat populations. Many species,
particularly those inhabiting mangrove swamps (e.g. Pteropus vampyrus in
Malaysia and Indonesia) and lowland forest, have lost critical roosting areas.
Mangrove swamps are being

destroyed by the shrimp aquaculture, woodchipping industry,
firewood, and coastal development, and lowland forest is felled for agriculture
and timber. For example all the 8 species of mangrove genus Sonneratia
are pollinated by fruit bats and Sonneratia being commercially and
socio-economically valuable mangrove tree being cleared out with dramatic
population decline of the fruit bats in various mangrove ecosystems in South
and South East Asia.

In the
mid-twentieth century, it was believed that the marine biota was inexhaustible.
In recent years,it was shown that the water resource is finite and large areas
of "fishing grounds" are fully exploited, overexploited or depleted
to the estimated degree of over 400 "dead seas", particularly in the
Baltic Sea and both coasts of the U.S..

Some of the proposed “solutions” to recover marine resources would allow the
Northern Hemisphere industrial fleets to invade their areas for fishing, while
simultaneously sending large fishing fleets and more technology to the
"Southern Cone", where through direct agreements with rulers, signing
free trade agreements, practice in essence illegal, unreported and unregulated acts
of piracy in exploitation of fish stocks.

The "Tragedy of the Commons" (Hardin, 1968) is evident when
transnational companies gain access to fishing underexploited seas and
introduce more ships and technology to deplete the resource. Some suggest that
small-scale fishermen are guilty of this "tragedy," but this kind of
reasoning is merely preparing the ground to strip them of their way of life.

Another solution is aquaculture, which in the 70's flew high withg shrimp
farming, which in less than 40 years wiped out more than half of the natural
breeding of marine species (mangrove ecosystems and associated) crop species
that occupy large tracts of land and / or sea pouring tons of nutrients
(phosphorus and nitrogen ...) to the oceans, producing eutrofications, and
along with other problems, caused negative changes in physical and chemical
parameters of the water (acidification, loss of absorption of carbon dioxide
...).

In 2006 the Agency for International Development (USAID) funded an evaluation
of the opportunities and challenges for the conservation of coastal marine
biodiversity in Latin America, the results of which allowed you to drive in
2009 a program of five years (Task Order under the WATER II IQC) on both coasts
of Central America including Belize and Panama, for which they reached an
agreement with the "Central American Integration System" (SICA),
adopting a neoliberal Strategic Objective: "Economic Freedom: Open,
diversified and economic expansion,” whose objectives are to encourage
Mechanisms: " to Secure Market-Based, Rights-Based Access to Resources"
... the latter is achieved by "Individual Transferable Fishing
Quotas" (ITQs), which means that after a study of populations on a target
catch marine species (lobster, conch, shark, snapper ...), we estimate the
"total allowable catch" (TAC), and of this total the Government
initially deals out a percentage to an individual or boat, then the beneficiary
is actually granted shares with all rights attached to a property, which can be
transferred by sale, lease, mortgage, inheritance etc. And with the
"mechanisms" already mentioned, you can grant concessions of
exclusive fishing zones for co-management (public / private, "space
rights"), which are also made under the power of private enterprise. In short:
Governments are like simple initial servicers, where biodiversity and marine
ecosystems are privatized by domestic and / or foreign entities, promoting
self-regulation of the dealers (!) Artisanal fishermen disappear and become
tenants or sub employees of the owners of the CIT, the CIT alone will not meet
its conservation objective and indeed the state loses its sovereignty at sea
and their role of managing fisheries.

USAID, among other sources predict results by 2014 of at least 10 CIT
established and running on the same number of selected commercial species. All
Central American countries are adopting in their legislation the
"mechanisms" to ensure the "rights" of the new owners of
the seas; only 100,000 small-scale fishermen "in an extension of" at
least one Million two hundred thousand have been "affected positively or
negatively on both seas via this program in Central America.

The Congress of Honduras, being characterized as being very
"helpful", is about to approve the dictates of USAID incorporated
into the new draft "Law on Fisheries and Aquaculture" ... Will they
be as "helpful" to the rest of the Central American governments ?